Heritage Bakery & Cafe is a Local Mother-Daughter Duo With a Passion for Food

Co-owner Isabel Traciak and her employees make everything by hand in their cozy 200 square foot kitchen at the Visitors Center in Downtown Harrisonburg.

Heritage Bakery and Cafe offers an ever-changing daily selection of freshly baked goods, breakfast and lunch items, and a variety of special orders for all occasions.

“We decide what me make every day and bake it all every morning and it’s all really fresh,” Katherine, a former student employee, said. “It’s all up to us what we want to make. You kind of just take what the customers like and blend it with our own ideas.”

From their Italian macarons, sticky buns, and cheesecake to their monthly Sunday Tea and freshly brewed coffee, this mother-daughter duo believes in using simple, colorful, fresh and locally sourced ingredients.

“We only have one fridge so it’s not like we can prepare for the whole week,” Traciak said. “We do small batches every day so everything is always fresh and clean.”

The cafe was designed to create a colorful and warm atmosphere. It features an open kitchen, stacked recipe books and patterned dish ware and even a coloring/puzzle station for the little ones. Many have come to know Heritage Bakery & Cafe as “home-like” and “friendly.”

“People will walk in, you know them by their first name,” Traciak said. “We get a lot of regulars. Every single day they come in and it, it’s just a happy place.”